1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tray and tray support member for performing vacuum processing such as thin film formation, surface modification, or dry etching, and a vacuum processing apparatus including the tray and tray support member. The present invention particularly relates to a tray and tray support member having a function capable of controlling the temperature of an object (substrate) to be processed while the object is held on the tray, and a vacuum processing apparatus including the tray and tray support member.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a vacuum processing apparatus including a tray to be used to transfer an object (substrate) to be processed and capable of controlling the substrate held on the tray to a predetermined temperature by supplying a temperature transmission gas (heating gas) to a space on the back side of the substrate is known (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-43404).
The vacuum processing apparatus of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-43404 is an apparatus that controls the temperature of a substrate by using the heating gas, and includes a tray having a closed space recess for supplying the heating gas to the space between the tray and the substrate. The substrate is fixed to the tray by using a pushing tool such that the surface opposite to the surface to be processed faces the closed space recess formed in the tray.
When the heating gas is supplied to the closed space recess in this state, the substrate can efficiently be heated via the sealed heating gas. That is, even when the interior of a vacuum vessel is set in a vacuum state in which the thermal conduction efficiency decreases, it is possible to greatly increase the accuracy and efficiency of the control of the substrate temperature by supplying the gas to only the closed space formed between the substrate and the tray.
On the other hand, the productivity of a vacuum processing apparatus can be increased by using a large-sized tray capable of holding a large number of substrates. However, if the large-sized tray capable of holding a number of substrates is used in the vacuum processing apparatus of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-43404, the deformation of the tray caused by the temperature change is no longer negligible. That is, the warpage of the tray changes the tray set position and the like. This may induce an inconvenience such as a tray transport error, a nonuniform temperature distribution caused by the change in substrate position, or a leak of the heating gas. Accordingly, the size of the tray cannot be increased arbitrarily.